Degreasing machine



May 6, 1952 o. J. BRATZ DEGREASING MACHINE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed April 5, 1944 INVENTOR Orro J B13472 wmm, I

ATTORNEY May 6,.1952

Filed April 5, 1944 O. J. BRATZ DEGREASING MACHINE 2 $HEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR Orro JBRHTZ N BY W ATTORNEY Patented May 6, 1952 DEGREASING MACHINE Otto .J. Bratz, Adrian, Mich., assignor to American Chain & Cable Company,

Inc., Bridgeport,

Conn, acorporation of New York Application April 5, 1944,,Serial;No.,52,9;875

This'inventionrelates to a machine for degreasing the interior and exterior of conduits or casings for push-pull assemblies of the Bowden type.

The mainobject of this invention is the provision of mechanism for degreasing and draining casin s of Bowden wire.

Other objects of the invention-will be appar- Fig. 3 is a side view of a valve-operating mechanism;

Figr'4 is a transverse cross section on the line 4-4 of-'Fig-. 1; and- Fig.5 is a detail View showing the step of passing a conduit or casing intc a burnishing case;

The machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as a preferred embodiment of this invention comprises a main lower solvent supply tank A, an auxiliary pump tank B connected on one side of the supply tank, an upper solvent heating tank 0, inclined work support and 'degreasing and draining troughs D and an inclined burnishing case E.

The main solvent supply tank A is suitably supported on standards 6 and may be of rectangular shape, as disclosed, and near its bottom may be provided with a ledge 1 on which is supported a filtering screen 8. The inside of this tank, at a point below the screen, is in communication with the pump tank B, as indicated at 9.

Mounted in the upper end of the pump tank B is a pump l2 of any suitable description by means of which the solvent is delivered to the solvent heating tank C through piping l3 to which is connected a, branch pipe for delivering the solvent to the upper end of the burnishing case E. The pipe I4 may include a connection l5 so as to permit the right hand end of the pipe to be disconnected from the section of the pipe supported on the supply tank B.

The solvent in the heating tank C is heated by a suitable immersion type electric heater I6 of any well known construction which may be controlled to heat the solvent to the desired temperature.

The trough D is a, double-decked construction comprising an upper open work tray portion ll (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) and two lower closed degreasing and draining troughs l8 and I9 which extend through an opening in an end wall of the main supply tank A and a reinforcing plate, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The work tray l1 abuts the reinforcing plate'which, as'well asthis end wall of the main supply-tank A, is provided with a hole 20 of just'sufiicient size to permit casingsil (Figs. 4 and 5)to-be-passed from the work tray through the main supply tank A into the burnishing case E.

The solvent heating tank C is supported on suitable standards 23 (Figs. 1 and- 2) on which is also supported the upper-end ofthe double decked trough D so as to support the trough in an inclined position at an angle of about 7. Communication is established between the solvent heating tank C and the degreasing and draining troughs l8 and I9 through tubes 24- and 25 (see also Fig. 3), controlled by a valve mechanism which comprises valves 26 and 2'! supported on' a bar 28 mounted on a shaft 29 suitably journaled in a wall of thetank C and providedatits outer end with an operating bar 28'. The shaft 29 may be rocked so as to open either valve and close the other by means of a cable 39 which" has its ends connected to the ends of the. operating bar 28' and which is supported on pulleys 3| and 32 supported on the trough D, as: indicatedin Figs. 1 and 2, so as to present a stretcher cable on each side of the trough for the convenience of the operator.

The lower end of the burnishing case E (Figs. 1 and 5) is supported by a tube 35 supported in the right hand end wall of the main supply tank A at a point above the screen 8 and extends into the tank a suitable distance, as indicated. The upper end of the burnishing case is supported in a bracket 36 on a standard 31 which supports the motor 38 and which is made extensible and adjustable, as indicated at 39, and includes pivoted parts, as indicated at 40, to support the motor at the proper height and angle.

The burnishing element consists of a twisted square wire 45 (Figs. 1 and 5) extending throughout the length of the burnishing case E and beyond it into the tank A to facilitate passing the casing or conduit 2| over the burnishing wire and into the burnishing case E, as is obvious especially from Fig. 5. Any suitable chuck 46 may be provided to transmit rotation from the motor to the burnishing wire 45.

This machine may be used for burnishing and degreasing any type of tube but it has been especially designed for burnishing the inside of coiled wire casings of the type disclosed in detail in Fig. 5 and which are used as the conduits or casings for push-pull devices of the Bowden wire type. These casings may be equipped with end fittings 50, as disclosed in Fig. 5.

The direction of twist of the burnishing wire 4 5 is such with relation to the direction 0! the rotation of the motor that the twisted square wire will act as a screw to force the solvent and the small particles of material loosened by the burnishing operation, down into the main supply tank A. In order that every section of the inside of the tube may be burnished the free end section of the wire is slightly kinked, as disclosed at 52 in Fig. 5.

The inside of the main supply tank A may be lined near its upper end with a condensing coil 55 which may be connected at its upper end 56 with a suitable water supply and at its lower end 51 to the sewer. This condensing coil is provided to condense fumes that may rise from the warm solvent in the tank A.

The machine is also provided with a hood, not disclosed, suspended above the main supply tank A to catch any fumes that may rise from the tank, and with a mild operating fan to withdraw the fumes which, if desired, may be collected and condensed and returned to the tank A.

In operating the machine the work tray 11 is filled with conduits or casings to be burnished and degreased. The pump and heater are set in operation and the valves 26 and 21 are adjusted so that the heated solvent will be delivered to the degreasing and draining trough into which the burnished casings are passed.

The casings in the work tray are passed manually one at a time through the opening 20 and through the main supply tank A into the burnishing case E and are then immediately withdrawn from the burnishing case and passed through the tank A into the selected trough 18 or 19. This operation is continued until the selected trough is filled with casings, after which the valve mechanism is adjusted so that the heated solvent will fiow down through the other trough, which will then be filled with burnished casings. While the latter trough is being filled, the casings in the other trough will drain and they will be ready for removal from the machine by the time said latter trough has been filled with casings.

While a preferred embodiment has been described with particularity for purposes of disclosure, it is obvious that other embodiments may be constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a solvent supply tank, two inclined degreasing troughs draining into said tank, a solvent heating tank supplying heated solvent to said degreasing troughs, a pump for pumping solvent from said supply tank to said heating tank and valve mechanism for controlling the delivery of heated solvent to said troughs one at a time and to either desired.

2. In a machine of the character described, a double decked trough construction comprising an upper open work supporting trough, two lower degreasing and draining troughs located under said work support trough, a solvent supply tank for supplying solvent to said latter troughs and valve mechanism for controlling the delivery of solvent to said latter troughs, one at a time and to either desired.

- OTTO J. BRATZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

